NFSCo brands the fly-tipping of dead stock ‘deplorable’
The head of the National Fallen Stock Company has described a spate of fly-tipping of dead animals as deplorable.
NFSCo chairman Michael Seals was responding to an announcement by Trading Standards that some counties had reported a rise in investigations on farms where dead stock had been left to rot in fields, and in fly-tipping incidents.
Mr Seals said: “I’m not just angry as the head of the collection scheme – I deplore this as a farmer. Anyone who is dumping dead animals is not just in breach of the law but damaging the image of farming. And that hurts all of us.”
Mr Seals was surprised that one of the counties worst affected, with numerous investigations and a rise from two prosecutions in 2005 to seven prosecutions in 2006, was Leicestershire.
Dead stock
“There’s no excuse. The area is well-served by the collection service and there are hunt kennels which will either take or pick up dead stock,” he said.
Trading Standards’ lead officer for animal health, Jeremy Adams, warned that it was relatively easy to track down offenders.
“It’s not just members of the public that inform us – we have cases where farmers report their neighbours. Often farmers are the angriest of all about this,” said Mr Adams.
“If you’re prosecuted, fines can be up to £5000 for each animal. We have already had farmers who have faced fines of more than £10,000,” he said.
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